AHSAA News

MONTGOMERY -- Steve Savarese, Executive Director of the Alabama High School Athletic Association, announced Friday that the AHSAA 2017 Central Regional Basketball Tournament planned to be played at Garrett Coliseum has been re-scheduled for Alabama State University’s 7,400-seat Dunn-Oliver Acadome Feb. 16-22.
Alabama State has hosted the tournament annually since 2007. The tournament was tentatively moved to Garrett Coliseum last fall when ASU informed the AHSAA it was unsure it could host the event this year. However, the ASU administration worked out the details and a new three-year contract to remain at ASU has been finalized.
“We appreciate Alabama State University’s administration for its commitment to hosting this and other AHSAA events,” Savarese said. “We also thank Garrett Coliseum’s board and administration for providing an alternative site in Montgomery. We look forward to working with ASU, the City of Montgomery and Garrett Coliseum in the future as we continue to strive to provide quality championship sports venues for our schools and student-athletes.”
The Central Regional basketball tournament is one of four regional tournaments held annually since the AHSAA implemented regional playoff format in 1994. Other sites are: Dothan (South), Jacksonville State University (Northeast) and Wallace-Hanceville Community College (Northwest).
Fifty-six teams, 28 boys’ and 28 girls’ teams, compete in the seven-classification event with each division’s winner advancing to the AHSAA State Finals Tournament held at the BJCC-Legacy Arena in Birmingham. The 2017 state tourney will be Feb. 27-March 4.
The Central Regional has been held at just two sites since its inception in 1994. ASU hosted the first year in 1994 when it was the Southeastern Regional. It moved to Troy University’s Sartain Hall from 1995-2007. The AHSAA renamed the tournament the Central Regional when it moved back to Montgomery and the Acadome in 2007.